Cruise Lines Out To Capture Early Sales

Cruise Lines Out To Capture Early Sales

There is a real sense of excitement around the cruise industry this week as brochures detailing 2O1O sailings go on sale.

Each brochure is a culmination of many months of planning as well as extensive market research as cruise companies strive to deliver varied itineraries, seek out new ports of call and, most importantly to them, encourage the likes of you and I to book.

I’ve written in the past about the levels of early bookings people are prepared to make a year or more in advance of their ship departing.

This year, however, is different as we all know due to the economic downturn and squeeze on disposable income.

Hence the many inducements cruise lines and travel agencies such as Virgin Holidays Cruises will be offering to ensure they land those all important early sales.

As I predicted in last week’s blog, there are many offers designed to ease the cruise cost with prices starting at less than £600 per person for seven-nights or around £75 a day for two weeks away.

Whether you are a newcomer to cruising, a family, a group of friends, empty-nester, baby-boomer, solo traveller or die-hard cruiser, cruise lines believe they can cater for you.

Here are some of the highlights for 2010:

P&O Cruises:

The biggest British-based cruise company will deploy seven ships next summer with the addition of newcomer Azura to the fleet in April 2010.

All will be sailing from Southampton on cruises of a variety of durations from two, three and five-night taster trips across the Channel to 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 24-night itineraries to the Baltics, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Canary Islands, North Cape and Norwegian fjords.

An extended number of three or four-week Eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caribbean and US and Canada and New England voyages are also available.

The company is to run two round-Britain cruises following the success of the first which runs this year. New ports of call are Newcastle, Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, Milford Haven and Belfast.

The two 11-night circumnavigations of the UK depart on June 30, 2010 on Oriana and on August 16 on the smaller Artemis.

There appears to be a recognition that cruise holidays are now very much in the mainstream of the holiday industry, hence P&O Cruises pushing an array of free places for children and adults in much the same way as the major tour operators.

Children aged 16 and under are able to travel for free on 10 itineraries when sharing a cabin with two adults. Infants aged two and under can also go for free on 40 itineraries on the same basis.

There 22 itineraries with free places for two out of four adults sharing a cabin out of a total of 153 cruises visiting 210 destinations.

For bookings made by June 30, there are savings of up to £500 per person available, along with free car parking on all departures from Southampton and on board credit of up to £200 per cabin.

Thomson Cruises:

The cruise arm of the UK’s largest tour operator, which provides family-friendly fly-cruises in the Mediterranean in the summer, is to run ships from Turkey, the Greek islands and Majorca in 2010.

The company sees the Eastern Med as next year’s ‘cruising hotspot’ and as such is basing the ship Thomson Celebration in Marmaris from May 2010.

The vessel’s sailings will cover destinations including Izmir, Santorini, Alexandria and Ashdod in Israel.

Thomson Spirit will sail from Corfu to Venice, Dubrovnik, Kotor in Montenegro, Athens and Rhodes.

Third ship, Thomson Destiny is to operate three different itineraries from Palma with Saturday departures and connecting flights from 14 UK airports.

Thomson has also taken over the Island Cruises programme and will release details soon of 2010 itineraries on the brand’s single ship.

Princess Cruises:

Stylish US line Princess Cruises – a sister company to P&O Cruises – will have three ships sailing from the UK in 2010 and a further three offering fly-cruises in the Mediterranean and Baltic regions.

A record number of departures from the UK include ‘boutique’ ship Ocean Princess – carrying just 670 passengers – running cruises from Dover for the first time.

Ocean Princess will be based in the Kent port between June and August offering seven-night sailings to Scandinavia, a round-Britain itinerary as well as an 18-night Land of the Midnight Sun trip taking in Spitsbergen and Murmansk. The ship will also sail to and from New York via Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland.

The 2,600-passenger Grand Princess is returning to Southampton for a second summer in 2010 with an additional two departures over this summer, representing an 18% rise in capacity.

The vessel is to operate four seven-night cruises to Spain and Scandinavia in addition to nine 14-night itineraries to the Mediterranean.

The even larger 3,110-passenger Crown Princess will also sail from Southampton on 12-night cruises to the Norwegian fjords and Iceland and a series of round-Britain voyages.

Ruby Princess will run 12-night fly-cruises with flight connections from London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow alternating between Barcelona and Venice.

Ocean Princess sister ship Pacific Princess is to run 12-night cruises from Rome, Athens and Venice to the Black Sea, Aegean, Israel and Egypt.

Star Princess will start the summer with 10-night Scandinavian fly-cruises from Copenhagen before moving to the Med between the end of September and November 2010.

All these options are in addition to Royal Caribbean International’s biggest ship Independence of the Seas operating out of Southampton again in summer 2010 alongside sister line Celebrity Cruises’ debuting new ship Celebrity Eclipse running five different itineraries.

Phil Davies

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Posted in Industry

20 Apr 2009

1 Comment

  • Jun 15 2010
    18:31

    Bill Cameron

    We’d do more cruises but WILL NOT put up with flight change via London. Put on more Fly/Cruise deals with provincial airports like Manchester and you’ve a chance of adding business!

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